The Word of God in the hands of the people

In Diarmaid MacCulloch's superb book "The Reformation" there is a profound observation that comes originally from Bernard Cottret's biography of John Calvin, "the increase in Bibles created the Reformation rather than being created by it, and it is notable how many of these Bibles were translations from Latin into local languages." (P.73)
In other words, there were plenty of would-be reformers and reform movements throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, but it was the printing of Bibles in the vernacular (the language of the people) through movable type that made the Reformation possible.  It is an amazing thing when the Word of God is read by God's people.  In the days of Josiah (II Kings 22), the people of Israel had so little contact with Scripture that not a single copy was available until a dusty old scroll was found in the temple and read to the people.  The subsequent weeping and mourning were inevitable because without God's Word his people will always wander away from the truth.
The same thing could be said of any church, regardless of denomination, in our world today.  The closer the people in the pews are to God's Word, the more they ingest it themselves on a regular basis, the better off the church will be.  Worried about a crack-pot pastor leading his flock astray?  There is far less a chance of that happening when the people know God's Word as well as he does.  Worried about people remaining true to the Gospel message in its original form?  Not if they read it, teach it, and preach it every week.
Does our local church need reform, does yours?  Follow the example of the Reformation, get the Bible into the hands of the common people and let the power of the Word of God convict God's people of their sins and bring them to their knees in worship of the LORD.